Father-in-law Azelinus gently granted us use of an empty warehouse for our strategy meeting. There are lots of meat skewers, baked and fried goods. Watered mead and fruit water are also aplenty. We left lots of food at Helen's too. Almost a quarter gold coin was left in the street stalls today, the vendors were very happy.

There is a round table with four chairs around. Several pieces of cheap parchment are available for writing on. Some things can be shown in status windows but it cannot be made visible for everyone.

"Now that we are here, Helen can you please set a barrier against eavesdropping? Marcy and I will keep our [Presence Detection] up too."I wait for everyone to get ready before I continue. "The unique skill I unlocked is called [Party / Job Management]. It can do all that the job-changing crystal can, and a bit more.

The new skill info panel looks like this:

Party / Job Management (rank: A) Level: 4

Grants access to the party and job management windows. Can freely set the party parameters and job parameters for party members.

Party Setup:

Can create, invite, kick and disband a party if in the leader position.

Job Change:

Can set the current job for any party member. Restricted to self if not in a party

Title Setting (available at level 4):

Can set the title for any party member. Restricted to self if not in a party. A set title has all effects doubled.

Level 6 required. Level 8 required. Level 10 required.

This skill was not properly attached to the soul vessel. The following warnings are in place:

WARNING: This skill cannot be leveled using skill points.

Yet again it has some problem with the attachment.

The first thing that baffles me is that the guild restricts the amount of available jobs quite a bit and also streamlines the job advancement of their members. Their goal is to produce efficient tools, not well-rounded people.For starters, these are the jobs you guys can get:"

[Job Management]! Beowulf!"

[2] Apprentice Warrior (1) [2] Apprentice Scout (1) [1] Villager (35) [2] Apprentice Merchant [2] Apprentice Acolyte (1) [3] Super Villager

"[Job Management]! Helen!"

[2] Apprentice Warrior [2] Apprentice Scout [1] Villager (5) [2] Apprentice Merchant [2] Apprentice Acolyte [3] Apprentice Druid [4] Elementalist [3] Monster Tamer [2] Apprentice Magician (10)

"[Job Management]! Marcy!"

[2] Apprentice Warrior [2] Apprentice Scout (10) [1] Villager (5) [2] Apprentice Merchant [2] Apprentice Chirurgeon [4] Sniper [4] Assassin [4] Ranger [3] Guild Receptionist

"[Job Management]! Zahariel!"

[1] Villager [2] Apprentice Acolyte

"The first number is tier of the job. The girls can already get their tier 4 jobs. Then the name of the job and the current job level. It is possible to go back and forth between jobs. The current job is not displayed, only the options for changing jobs. I also think there are more job options, but the skill only displays nine."

Marcy looks at the written data in the parchments, and points out, "Some of these jobs are exclusive to other organizations, like the merchant's guild. But most of these I have never heard of."

The girls stare deeply into their available options.

"There is also the possibility of changing jobs back and forth without any visible drawback. I have acquired level 1 in all of the guild's available jobs, and now will get the level 1 of the others. Job Change! Beowulf to Apprentice Merchant!"

Skill Appraisal (money) level 1 awakened. Skill Coachman level 1 awakened. Skill Barter level 1 awakened.

"Job Change! Beowulf to Apprentice Acolyte!"

Skill Party / Job Management level 4 obtained. Title setting available. Skill Faith level 1 awakened. Skill Healing Magic level 1 awakened. {Healing} learned. Skill Blessing Magic level 1 awakened. {Turn Undead} learned.

"Job Change! Beowulf to Super Villager!"

Skill Skill Awakening Rate UP level 1 awakened. Skill Status Conversion UP level 1 awakened. Skill Max HP Increased +1 skill point added. Skill Max MP Increased +1 skill point added. Skill Max Stamina Increased level 1 awakened.

Super villager is a big surprise. It looks like an all-around basic stats increase type. It is just like that special class I used to play in a Korean MMO that is average in everything but with a truckload of expensive gear becomes very fun to play.

"I can change your jobs around so you can get the basic skills that are by all purposes free, but only if you want. For Zahariel I think we should not mess with his setup right now. I doubt he can change back into Acolyte without meeting the requirements."

The girls agree, and I go around changing their jobs to get level 1 of every job:

For Helen, besides the jobs already published, these were new:

"Job Change! Helen to Apprentice Druid!"

Skill Herbalism +1 skill point added. Skill Weather Magic level 1 awakened.

{Weather Sense} learned. Skill Wild Stride level 1 awakened. Skill Wild Empathy level 1 awakened. Skill Appraise (plants) level 1 awakened.

"Job Change! Helen to Elementalist!"

Skill All Elemental Magic +3 skill points added. Skill Elemental Resistance level 1 awakened. Skill Elemental Prowess level 1 awakened.

Hey, I want that skill!!! Elementalist FTW.

"Job Change! Helen to Monster Tamer!"

Skill Taming (monster) +1 skill point added. Skill Monster Language level 1 awakened. Skill Training (monster) level 1 awakened. Skill Whip level 1 awakened. Skill Appraise (monster) Level 1 awakened.

Now the jobs that are available to Marcy:

"Job Change! Marcy to Apprentice Chirurgeon!"

Skill First Aid level 1 awakened. Skill Herbalism level 1 awakened. Skill Medicine Compounding (basic) level 1 awakened.

"Job Change! Marcy to Sniper!"

Skill Bow Master level 2 awakened. Skill Bow Range UP level 2 awakened. Skill Bow Technique level 1 awakened.

"Job Change! Marcy to Assassin!"

Skill Stealth +3 skill points added. Skill Assassinate level 2 awakened. Skill Venomcraft level 1 Awakened.

"Job Change! Marcy to Ranger!"

Skill Terrain Knowledge Level 2 awakened. Skill Alertness level 1 awakened. Skill Eagle Eyes Level 1 awakened. Skill Quick Draw level 1 awakened. Skill Direction Sense Level 1 awakened.

"Job Change! Marcy to Guild Receptionist!"

Skill Appraise (monster parts) level 1 awakened. Skill Appraise (monster cores) level 1 awakened. Skill Guild Tool Manipulation level 1 awakened. Skill Diplomacy level 1 awakened. Skill Dismantling level 1 awakened.

There is another one I dearly want. Appraise (pemadras) sound so tasty...

After we gather the information of the new skills and jobs I revert the girls to their own previous jobs, Magician and Scout. The infux and synergy of the new skills is awesome. It is like each of them gained two or three levels worth of skills.

The most juicy skill of the day was granted by Super Villager:

Status Conversion UP

Increase the amount of status points accrued from inactive jobs by x 2%

One problem when changing jobs is that your basic stats go down until you gain some levels in the new job. The girls told me that this is the expected. But cultivating previous jobs past the conversion level grant a permament status boost. The super villager skill can increase this status bonus by quite the margin.

This means that grinding low level jobs is worth more than just a few skill points. Fiddling with my status window, I came to the conclusion that this conversion rate is ~ 1% for every two job levels. Maybe there is a basic amount so the formula probably is something like 5% + (level/2)%. For example, I have 24.5% of all the status points of a villager level 35 permanently added to my base status regardless of what job I am currently assigned to.

While I am thinking about this stuff, the girls are playing with their new status and skills. Helen tries her new spells, Marcy shoots some arrows at a hay bale.

I call them back. "All this gave me a new perspective on the guild. They are an agency to produce paper cannons. Very efficient in their roles, but totally crap if taken alone. Kareena in that duel is the poster child for that. When faced with an enemy immune to her sure-kill technique, she is garbage. People trained by the guild have optimal stats and skills only in their own relevant fields."

Zahariel brings his point of view. "The job and skill system was designed by the gods with the help of the summoned heroes to give people the capacity to fight back the monsters. I don't think what the guild is doing a bad thing. They can create efficient monster hunting parties easier this way."

Once again I reach the conclusion that one of the main problems of this world is the lack of ethics. "Zahariel, this line of thought only works when you think people is expendable. That it would be fine for me to conquer that dungeon by throwing hordes of goblins and monkeys to finish it regardless of how many of them die. It is a valid way of life when you can throw people to their deaths easily and only count numbers. But how many people had their feelings hurt when Helmholtz failed to kill me? I know that each and every one of the people around me is important. And I am not afraid of them."

"Afraid of your companions?"

"I have seen it in the eyes of King Hrothgar, in the whispers of his advisors. People in a high position despise, fear people with power. Because they have this low regard for life, they believe others will also come to claim their lives. So they try to keep the powerful in control. The shining blades would meet their end in a few years if they were not sent to kill me. Because they would next take a job to kill a wyvern, or even a true dragon. I have no problem in making the ones around me powerful, because I don't distrust them. Each and every one of them is precious to me. I'll mourn a goblin's life."

"I see the merit of your point of view. It is easier for you to think this way. But you are not under the curse of Lucifer."

I am not under the 'curse of Lucifer'. "Wait a moment, do you mean that everyone in this world is cursed?"

Zahariel clears his throat and makes his body glows slightly. Now that he does not have his wing stubs, it is easy to forget this little tyke is actually a seraph.

"I think I should explain to you how the world came to be like it is now."